Collegium musicum Pragense - Družecký, Vent & Vranický: Hunting Music (2018) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Hunting cannot be thought about in isolation from the sounds accompanying it - the barking of dogs, the shrieks of frightened quarry, the shots, and the sound of horns and trumpets. Signal instruments and the atmosphere of chase gave rise to the special genre of "hunting music". The quintessential hunting-related instrument is the French horn, which became widely used in Bohemia after 1760, owing to Count Franz Anton von Sporck. Yet hunting music, for a variety of ensembles (including the wind Harmonie), was also played at feasts and other social events. Hunting-themed pieces - cassations, serenades, partitas (many of them termed caccia or la chasse) - indicated their connection with hunting by the selection of instruments, the typical harmonies and melodies, as well as by featuring onomatopoeic effects, such as the sounds of animals and birds, and sonic renditions of buoyant merry-making in the wake of the hunting expedition. The music featured on the present CD was written by three Czech representatives of high Classicism. Jiří Družecký and Jan Nepomuk Vent composed numerous popular pieces for wind instruments. Pavel Vranický, a friend of Haydn and Beethoven, who both chose him to conduct their works, was a distinguished theatre figure in Vienna. Let yourself be immersed in the captivating hunting atmosphere and the subsequent feast.

Deep forests, the sound of bugles and game - an invitation to a hunt from the Czech classical masters.

Tracklist:

Jiří Družecký (1745 - 1819)

1. Partita Berdlersgarn: I. Allegro 05:14
2. Partita Berdlersgarn: II. Menuetto 04:12
3. Partita Berdlersgarn: III. Allegro con variazioni 03:05

Jan Nepomuk Vent (1745 - 1801)

4. Partita in Dis: I. Presto 02:47
5. Partita in Dis: II. Favoritto - Alternativo 02:27
6. Partita in Dis: III. Menuetto 03:22
7. Partita in Dis: IV. Romance 04:57
8. Partita in Dis: V. Finale - Presto 02:58

Pavel Vranický (1756 - 1808)

9. Sinfonia in D, Op. 25: I. Allegro maestoso 09:12
10. Sinfonia in D, Op. 25: II. Menuetto 04:41
11. Sinfonia in D, Op. 25: III. Adagio 06:51
12. Sinfonia in D, Op. 25: IV. La Caccia 07:09

Personnel:
Collegium Musicum Pragensae
Prague Symphony Orchestra
František Vajnar, conductor